INDIANAPOLIS — A crucial vote Monday night in the Indianapolis City-County Council. Proposal 287 was approved, allowing a committee to investigate sexual miconduct allegations against a former staff member in Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration.
"Not one of us should have that much power," Councilor Ali Brown said.
The vote came with a lengthy debate.
"All documents collected or received by the independent law firm and its work product should be made available to any committee member on request," Councilor Joshua Bain said.
"I think we believe as a body that there needs to be an investigation but to make sure that it's truly independent and that we aren't doing some of that work,” said Councilor Crista Carlino. "With that, I cannot support Councilor Bain’s amendment tonight."
WATCH | Hogsett addresses sexual misconduct controversy at City County Council meeting
The proposal aims to establish a new standard for how the city handles sexual misconduct cases.
"Our job is to figure out where the systems went wrong and fix those systems, so this never happens again," Brown said.
With the approval, proposal 287 would create an investigative committee that would contract an independent law or human resources firm to investigate allegations against the Hogsett administration.
This comes after two women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct within Hogsett’s office and administration dating back to his first term.
"It's no secret that chairwoman McCormick and I were on the coordinated campaign in 2019 and 2023, and we want to make sure the investigation comes through in a way that does bring justice for victims and protect them so they know it's safe to come forward," Carlino said.
"We personally know victims and other folks coming forward and to know that we were there when it was happening and didn't see it, didn't recognize it and it happened under our noses, and we couldn't protect those individuals is horrible," Councilor Jessica McCormick said.
"We're going to try and approach this in the right manner and make sure this gets handled in a timely manner as well as hold all bad actors accountable," Councilor Brian Mowery said.
In a statement after the meeting Mayor Joe Hogsett said,
I commend the City-County Council for ensuring that their investigation as part of Proposal 287 will protect the confidentiality of any current or former City employee who was or may be involved in any claim of sexual harassment. In order to create a safer, better work environment, it is imperative that everyone who works for the City knows they can report harassment of any kind without fear of retribution, and that all investigations will be conducted in a confidential manner.
I remain committed to working with the City-County Council and the entire Administration to make continued changes to our policies and practices, both those initiated by my Administration and through this resolution.
